Showing posts with label Barbuda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barbuda. Show all posts

October 7 - Merchant Holiday in Antigua and Barbuda

Posted October 7, 2017

A "merchant holiday" is supposed to be a chance for people who own stores to close up shop, gather with their families, and enjoy a day of relaxation. For many families, it's a chance to get out into nature.

But Hurricane Irma in early September walloped this tiny island nation. Barbuda was the first island in the Caribbean hit by the hurricane - and, with wind speeds reaching 295 km/h (185 mph), almost every single building and other bit of infrastructure (roads, bridges, pipes, electrical grids) was damaged or destroyed.

Thank goodness, almost everyone on the island had been evacuated to Antigua by boat - actually, before Hurricane José, one hurricane before Irma!

 Aaaaannnnndd...now Barbuda is basically uninhabitable. For the first time in 300 years, nobody lives on Barbuda.

 Hopefully, repairs can be made within the next few weeks (or months?) and Barbudans can go home. In the meantime, the almost 2,000 Barbudans are making a strain on the 80 thousand or so who live in Antigua. I couldn't find any info on hurricane damage to that nearby island, so I can only presume that the worst part of the storm missed it - thank goodness!

 Famous actor Robert DeNiro is one owner of property on Barbuda, and he says he is committed to rebuilding "what nature has take away from us." 

 Here are some photos of Barbuda on sunnier days:

Hopefully the island can recover!

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November 1: Antigua and Barbuda's National Day

Posted on November 1, 2014
Yes, it's another Caribbean island.

Yes, it's another country that became independent of the United Kingdom (in 1981). (Man, the Brits colonized EVERYWHERE!!!)

Wow, what a view these people have!
This is a peninsula, or a finger of land
that sticks out into the sea.
The name of the country is pretty straightforward, since the two main islands that make up the nation are (you guessed it) Antigua and Barbuda. There are about 35 other islands, some with cool names:

Kid Island and Nanny Island
Crump Island and Sandy Island
Bird Island, Pelican Island, and Great Bird Island
Rat Island, Lobster Island, and Rabbit Island
The Sisters Islands and Wicked Will Island

A nickname for the country is “Land of 365 Beaches.” I guess you could go to a different beach every day of the year?

Here are some cool things about Antigua and Barbuda:

  • The nation has a National Weed! And it's called Widdy Widdy (which is such a great name!). Way back in the 1950s, when sugar workers went on strike for better wages and conditions, they cooked and ate this good-tasting, nutritious, but sticky food.
  • One of the nation's most popular sports is cricket, and some world-class cricketers came from here (even though the country is so small). One of the nation's laziest sports is crab-racing – a sport that is held once a week.

  • National dress designed by
    native Antiguan Heather Doram
    Today, in celebration of National Day, many Antiguans wear their national clothing (which was once warn by market vendors and cake makers!).
They also eat special foods, and attend national prayer services.





  • Antigua's “Black Pineapple” is considered the sweetest pineapple in the world. When Arawakan-speaking people first introduced this fruit, every bit of it was used—to make twine, to make cloth, to make medicines, and so forth.
  • The highest point on Antigua was known as Boggy Peak. (Another great name!) But in 2009, Boggy Peak was named Mount Obama, after U.S. President Barack Obama.


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